Ella's Father
by Metal Flowers
Summary: "Okay, I'll be right back. You go to sleep and I'll be here when you wake up," he promised, though his voice sounded false." Did you ever wonder what happened to Ella's dad? Did he leave or did Ella's mom, or was it a little bit of both? T for a bit of cursing and it takes place when Ella was five.


"Daddy?" a little girl whimpered as she stood at the bottom of the stairway, watching her father leave, "What are you doing?"

The girl couldn't have been more than five years old, but she knew that something was wrong. Her daddy didn't work, much less get up this early on a Saturday. She'd woken up in fear, hearing noise downstairs that didn't come from a TV. Her mommy had gone over to visit her grandma in the hospital, so she couldn't be in the house.

"Ella?" her daddy whispered in surprise, caught halfway inside the house and halfway outside, "Why are you awake?"

"You were loud," she shivered as she hugged herself, her thin cotton pajamas weren't equipped to protect her from the cold December air pouring in through the open door.

Ella's dad came over to her, not bothering to close the door. How long had it been since she's seen him like this? she wondered, still half asleep, "You don't smell like beer."

"And you don't smell like you had a bath last night," her daddy poked Ella's belly playfully. He gave her a bear hug that lasted for a long, long time, so long that eventually Ella had to squirm out of his grasp.

"I'm going to the grocery store to get food. Do you want anything? Candy? Soda?" he offered, looking shameful. Ella thought for a moment before nodding excitedly.

"I want chocolate chip cookies!" she smiled widely and her daddy nodded.

"Okay, I'll be right back. You go to sleep and I'll be here when you wake up," he promised, though his voice sounded false. Ella shrugged off the bad feeling in her stomach and went back to her room, swaddling herself in her purple comforter.

She couldn't go to sleep, not after what her daddy had promised her! She peeked out her window as her dad drove away and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Ella checked the analog clock that hung in her room, decorated with Hello Kitty decals. It had been _hours_ since Daddy had left, and she was bored out of her mind. Maybe there was traffic. That's what Mommy always said when Daddy was late.

She got dressed in her light blue jeans, hot pink shirt, and icy blue winter coat before heading outside. If her parents weren't here, then they wouldn't get upset if she went to play on the swing set, would they? Feeling a thrill at being outside, she played on the swing set in the backyard.

Ella swung on her little swing until the sun went down again, but even then she continued swinging. She never got to play outside for this long, so why not prolong the experience? Even when Ella's lips turned blue and the blood stopped circulating as it should through her body, she continued to play. As she swung higher and higher into the sky, she felt as if she had wings. She felt as if she was flying…until she flew off the swings and landed in the rose bushes, her leg bent at an odd angle. Ella howled with pain, but there was no one to hear her, as they lived in a house secluded from society. Nonetheless, Ella exhausted her lungs, screaming in agony until the cold from the ground nulled the pain. Soon, Ella didn't feel anything. She was warm.

A car door slammed shut and Ella wondered who it was. Was Daddy back with the cookies?

"Ella?" Ella's mommy called frantically, "Ella? Are you out here?"

Ella's mommy caught sight of a scuffed up white and pink sneakers peeking out of the rose bushes and gasped, "Oh god, Ella!"

Mommy ran to Ella and was at her side in a flash, picking her up, "Ella? Are you alright? Please say something. You're as cold as ice."

"My leg hurts. A lot," Ella's teeth chattered as she talked. Some feeling had come back into her leg while being jostled by her mommy.

"It's broken," Mommy gritted her teeth, thinking that she was a bad parent, "Let's get you to a hospital."

"What about Daddy? He went out to get cookies," Ella informed her mommy, still wanting the cookies. Could you have cookies in a hospital?

"Your father got drunk in a bar and left you alone all day," tears fell from Mommy's face, "Oh god, Ella…I'm so sorry. I'll never let you see him again. Ever."


End file.
